Global E-Commerce research specialist, yStats.com, based in Hamburg, Germany, has released a new market report titled “Malaysia B2C E-Commerce Market 2018”. According to original sources cited in this publication, online retail sales in Malaysia are projected to grow at rates of above +20% in 2018 and 2019. The report also reveals the growing importance of the mobile shopping channel and increased competition in the B2C E-Commerce segment.

Malaysian consumers are among the most connected in Southeast Asia, with Internet penetration reaching new heights in 2017 and ranking second in the region after Singapore. The share of Internet users placing orders via E-Commerce websites also increased, although a significant discrepancy exists between the two main cities and other regions, according to statistics cited in the yStats.com report. By 2022, Malaysia is expected to see more growth in number of online shoppers and also in their average E-Commerce spending.

M-Commerce is one of the growth drivers of online retail sales in Malaysia. With most of Internet users going online via smartphone, mobile traffic accounted for nearly three-quarters of all web traffic to E-Commerce sites in mid-2017. The yStats.com report also shows that clothing and footwear was the top online shopping category in Malaysia in 2017, and bank transfer was the preferred payment method. Furthermore, three-quarters of digital shoppers in Malaysia buy exclusively from sellers with local operations, while one-quarter of shoppers also place orders on cross-border E-Commerce platforms.

The leading competitors in Malaysia’s B2C E-Commerce are regional players Lazada, 11Street, Shopee and Zalora. These four platforms ranked the highest by website traffic in early 2018. Competition between these market leaders is intensifying as online retail sales in Malaysia continue to expand, with projections of above +20% growth rates in both 2018 and 2019, according to forecasts cited by yStats.com.